LEBANON FINAL REPORT

Transcription

1 EUROPEAN UNION ELECTION OBSERVATION MISSION LEBANON FINAL REPORT PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS 7 JUNE 2009 This report was produced by the European Union Election Observation Mission to Lebanon and presents the mission s findings on the 7 June parliamentary elections. These views have not been adopted or in any way approved by the European Commission and should not be relied upon as a statement of the European Commission. The European Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this report, nor does it accept responsibility for any use made thereof.

2 4. In order to ensure neutrality and transparency, an independent election management body should be established, building on the experience gained with the SCEC. The body should enjoy financial and administrative autonomy and be composed of non-partisan commissioners who hold regular plenary sessions with stakeholders and immediately publish decisions. 5. The capacity of any independent Election Management Body (EMB) to monitor candidates spending during the campaign period should be enhanced. The EMB should have access to full financial disclosure from candidates in carrying out the verification of statements of campaign expenditures and revenues. 6. All electoral administration decisions and instructions should be promptly published, on the appropriate website, in a printed gazette and in the media. Voter Registration 7. In line with international best practices, the minimum voting age should be the age of majority. The Council of Ministers and Parliament should pursue the recent adoption of a project of law aimed at amending the Constitution to reduce suffrage to 18 years. 8. The disenfranchisement of military personnel should be rescinded. 9. The provision for out-of-country voting in the 2008 Election Law should be implemented in time for the next parliamentary electoral process. 10. The process by which voters may transfer their location of voter registration to where they reside should be simplified, shortened and made more transparent. This administrative process should not take longer than a few months at most and should not be subject to discretional veto by the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities. 11. The law should clearly ensure that pre-trial detainees do not lose their right to vote. Political Parties and Candidates 12. In the absence of a law on political parties, the law of association which regulates the registration of organisations including political parties should be amended to provide for a clear timeframe for the consideration of registration requests and should make the decision to enable registration accountable. In the law and any eventual decisions, reasons for refusing registration should be clearly outlined and consistent with international human rights standards. Campaign Environment 13. It would be useful for the election law to stipulate a limited campaign period prior to election day. Currently, candidates may begin campaigning as soon as they are registered and in practice campaigning often starts before this. A prescribed time limit for campaigns would contribute to a level-playing field and would help to maintain voter s interest and motivation to participate. 30

3 14. The prescribed length of the campaign period should end before polling day. Currently, the law only prohibits campaigning in the media during the 24 hours before voting starts. The prohibition of campaign activities on this day and on polling day should be enforced. 15. Financial resources play a disproportionate role in election campaigning in Lebanon and current regulations and enforcement are inadequate. Campaign spending regulations should be further detailed and practices which could be viewed as conducive to vote-buying should be limited, including the private sponsorship of travel to Lebanon for expatriate citizens. 16. While the widespread influence of charities, foundations and networks is culturally deeply-rooted, regulation should be introduced to mitigate the extent to which these organisations can be used to achieve electoral support. Voter Education 17. Lebanon has a long tradition of electoral processes and several generations of the electorate have repeated experience of elections. However, public education programmes regarding the right to a secret vote may be constructive and could be linked to public support and understanding of official pre-printed ballots. The Media Sector 18. Insufficiently detailed media-related provisions of the election law should be clarified to ensure an unambiguous regulatory framework for the media. Any future EMB should adopt sub-legal acts and regulations to provide legal clarification of uncertain media obligations in order to make media provisions more effective and enforceable. These clarifications should be achieved in consultation with journalists and editors and thereafter should be published. 19. In the absence of a legally-stipulated campaign period, the media should be informed of exactly when campaign-related media regulations come into force. 20. The regulatory framework could be further enhanced by establishing a more effective mechanism to ensure compliance with and enforcement of media regulations. 21. Impartiality and equal access are of particular importance in news, current affairs or discussion programmes and therefore all broadcasters should abide by standards of impartiality in their informative programmes, in line with the obligations set by the election law. While reflecting a polarised political discourse, media organs should be mindful of their responsibility to avoid amplifying or exploiting incitements of hatred or division in their coverage. 22. Consideration should be given to allocate free airtime to political parties and candidates on state-owned broadcasting corporations to allow all election contenders to effectively communicate their platforms to the public. In a media system characterised by a private audio-visual media sector shaped along political lines, state broadcasters have a particular responsibility to be a genuine public service and create a forum for all campaign messages during the election period. 31

4 23. Journalists should consider developing self-regulatory principles to ensure respect for journalistic standards and awareness of the media s social responsibility during election campaigns. Such principles should be embodied in a code of conduct endorsed by all media. Women s Participation 24. Legislation that discriminates against women s enjoyment of civil and political rights should be amended. The automatic transfer of women s registration to their husband s location should be changed as a matter of priority, primarily because of its discriminatory nature and also because of its secondary practical implications when registration is based on location of origin rather than location of residence. 25. The law which prevents Lebanese women from passing on citizenship to children if they marry a foreign national is in urgent need of amendment in order to meet Lebanon s commitments to non-discrimination on the grounds of gender and also because of its implications when all Lebanese citizens are entitled to vote, even second or third generation emigrants. 26. Beyond their participation as voters, women s representation in Lebanese political spheres is extremely low and should be improved with adequate measures. 27. Women s representation in the administration of elections could be improved by training and recruitment programmes which include women s representation as a priority. Civil Society and Domestic Observation 28. The Election Law provides for access to polling stations for the physically disabled and the LPHU has worked with the Ministry to draft a decree for implementing this provision. Action should be taken in good time prior to the next elections to ensure that physically disabled voters enjoy their right to access polling stations. 29. Building on the first reference to election observers in the 2008 Election Law, the rights and responsibilities of national and international observers could be given further detail, prioritizing observers right to view all stages of voting and counting and their responsibility to remain neutral and not interfere in the process. Domestic observation organisations should be supported in their endeavour to recruit and train election observers, not least because of the opportunity provided for citizens to be involved in a constructive and evaluative approach to political processes. 30. Although the Decree 1517 represents a step forward in the regulation of the international observation, the removal of the limitation to 100 observers per international observation mission in future regulations would undoubtedly contribute to increase the transparency of the process. 32

5 Complaints and Appeals 31. A clearer and more comprehensive complaints framework to enable challenges of more elements of electoral administration would enhance transparency and accountability. The existing structure enabling decisions by the SCEC to be challenged at the State Council is appropriate, but is naturally only a recourse for the limited number of issues which the SCEC is mandated to monitor. A clear appeals system should be established to enable voters and candidates alike to seek redress on all elements of electoral administration, from voter registration to pertinent incidents on polling day. Legislation or regulations should clearly set out which administrative or judicial institution is responsible for hearing specific types of complaints. 32. With regard to the existing recourse for appeal to the Constitutional Council against election results, the effectiveness of the complaints process could be enhanced by a revision of the timeframe for decisions. While the thirty-day margin for complaints to be submitted is appropriate, the CC s requirement to produce a decision only within three months is excessive. Unless an adjournment for specific evidential reasons is necessary, the CC should be required to determine appeals within one month of their submission, providing a record of the evidence considered. Polling, Counting and Publication of the Results 33. All appropriate measures should be undertaken to ensure the attendance of the required number of polling station staff members at each polling station. The reliance on fewer staff members or the assistance of untrained members of the public or party agents diminishes the credibility and efficiency of polling processes. 34. The introduction of standardised officially pre-printed ballots remains of the highest priority. In their absence, the number of serialised envelopes received by the polling stations should be counted and recorded prior to the start of polling and reconciled with the number of envelopes before the start of counting. 35. Written procedures for aggregation of results after counting at polling stations should be drafted, for use by Registration and Higher Registration Committees. These procedures should include reference to the right of party agents and election observers to attend aggregation stages of the counting process. 36. Publication of results should continue to be done in a timely fashion and should be issued to the press, on the internet and in a published gazette. The removal of official results from the Ministry s website, however, should be avoided as it raises unnecessary concern about transparency and reliability of official figures. 33